Well, thank Crom for that. The world might not quite have been on tenterhooks waiting to find out who would claim the rebooted throne of Conan (and see their enemies driven before them and hear the blah blah etc), but for everyone who was invested: rejoice! We have a new Barbarian. His name? Jason Momoa.

Best known for his role as Ronon Dex in Stargate Atlantis, Momoa beat off (steady...) the likes of Supernatural's Jared Padalecki and Twilight's Kellen Lutz for the part in Marcus Nispel's retooled version.

As we reported just yesterday, the casting choice, after a long struggle between at least five actors, had come down to those three. According to Deadline Hollywood, Momoa clinched it with a sword-wielding screen-test and a charm offensive at Lionsgate. Also, he crushed his enemies, saw them driven before them and etc. etc. and so on and so forth.

And in related Conan news, Latino Review has it that none other than Mickey Rourke has been sent an offer to play Conan's father, Corin. Hhhm… Can't say there's a massive resemblance, but that's for Marcus Nispel to worry about.

All being well, the new film should kick off shooting mid-March in Bulgaria, news which will be greeted with a massive sigh of relief from the producers who will finally get to see this thing move into production, not to mention crushing their enemies, seeing them driven before them and hearing the lamentations of their so on and so forth ad infinitum.

Except 1) Roland Kickenger can't act. At all. I mean seriously, he makes Arnold Schwarzenegger seem like Laurence Olivier by comparison. And 2) The real Conan isn't supposed to look anything like Arnold Schwarzenegger, an Austrian, or a bodybuilder. Especially in Howard's original stories. Although, admittedly these days that is much how he is commonly perceived, thanks to Frank Frazetta's art and Schwarzenegger's films.

And as much as I liked Schwarzenegger's Conan films, particularly Conan the Barbarian, which is a classic in my eyes, it really is a very long way away from Howard's source material, and the character of who Conan was supposed to be. It was a great film, and I love it, but it was a pretty awful adaptation if compared against the original material and characters. Hell, even Milius himself admitted that much. Personally, I'm hoping this reboot will be far closer in spirit to the R.E. Howard source material, which is actually supposed to be the whole idea of the reboot. And if they manage that then this is actually one reboot that has a real reason for being. If they get it right, and stay true to such claims anyway...

And personally, I'm okay with this casting. Especially when you consider the other main contenders, then he's easily the best choice of the bunch. I mean Padalecki may be good on Supernatural, but he isn't anyone's Conan, he just doesn't have the presence, physical or otherwise. And the Twilight guy? Yeah, no f-ing thank you. So yeah, it could have been far worse.

As for this Jason Momoa cat, he is obviously impressing a few people of late, given that he was also recently cast in HBO's upcoming adaptation of George R R Martin's Game of Thrones series, opposite the likes of Sean Bean, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Iain Glen and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, all of whom are very much on the 'quality' side of the actor fence. So personally I'm not writing the guy off. And while Stargate Atlantis never exactly asked him to deliver too much outside of generally being rather grumpy and imposing, and bringing the action, he did that all pretty well. So, yeah, he may not have been my first choice, but I think there is potential there actually. The biggest challenge may well be overcoming the public's perception of Conan = Schwarzenegger, which was always going to be a tough sell to the public at large regardless of who they cast in the role.

But ultimately what will make or break this film, quality wise at least, will be the script and the direction. If they manage to give us something true to the spirit of Howard's original work, something along the lines of a filmic equivalent of Dark Horse's Conan comics, which took Howard's disperate Conan stories and used those while also further fleshed the character out, adding connective stories, and putting it all into a more linnear history for the character, then this could be something great. The potential is certainly there anyhow. If however they merely try to do an Arnie-less Arnie style Conan movie, and make it more along the lines of a remake of the Arnie Conan films, then this may well be a disaster in the making. I think that if they get the script right though, and the director can bring the quality, then I don't see Momoa's casting doing the film any harm at all.

Also, given that Millennium films isn't shy about releasing R-rated films (they are the studio that gave us the last Rambo film, for instance), and that director Marcus Nispel is mainly known for his mostly horror related film output, all of which thus far have been very R-rated and quite violent (Texas Chainsaw Massacre & Friday the 13th remakes, and Pathfinder), I'm actually not too worried about the rating at this point either, which I otherwise might have been worried about, as everything sems to be made for pg-13 these days, appropriate or not. But in this case I don't think this is the guy they would have hired as director if they wanted a safe and pg-13 Conan film, so hopefully this should be a nice and visceral Conan experience.

Anyway, excuse the longwinded rant, but I'm a bit of a Conan fanatic...

I really hope they don't take the lazy option and go for a remake of the original films. If they can give me a live action equivalent of the Dark Horse comics, then I'd be a very happy Cimmerian. If not, then (to quote Conan)to "hell with you". Good plot, good direction etc equals a good movie for me. Buff dudes, shoddy plot and cruddy acting results in a modern day version of Kevin Sorbo's "Kull the Conqueror".

One of the problems with hollywood today is that most of the old school style 'hard men' of action have either gotten old, or just plain died out, and as they have done so, they haven't been replaced, as most of the current and newer generations of what are now sold to us as our action stars are basically pretty boys playing at being action stars, some of who might do okay at today's brand of action film, but who rarely convince as proper hard men or tough guys in the way that those of the past generations managed to.

Conan is supposed to be black haired, sullen eyed, bronzed skinned, with panther-like agility, and a personality of both giant mirth and giant melancholies. Who today would be good at bringing that to life on screen, while still be able to convince as a barbarian with a beserker rage when need be? I dunno. Maybe someone like Ray Stevenson from Rome would have been good, but again, being in his mid 40's, is too old now if they want to start at the beginning with a possible new franchise.

If they want to start with a younger Conan and then follow him through his life from thief to reaver to pirate to mercenary to eventual king by his own hand, then you need to start with someone a bit younger, but still a man, and finding someone young enough to portray Conan's early adventures, while also having the presence and physicality to convince in the role is no easy task. I think given all of that Momoa is a fair choice in today's hollywood overall, even if he too doesn't perfectly fit Howard's descriptions of Conan (but then, who does?). And if he can bulk up a little more, and actually live up to the opportunity he has been given, he may well surprise.

I see possibilities there anyhow, whether that'll actually bear fruit or not, we'll just have to wait and see. Sometimes it works out, despite early fan protests and backlash, like with Heath Ledger as The Joker, Daniel Craig as James Bond, or Robert Downey jr as Tony Stark, and sometimes it simply doesn't. If the script and direction are up to the task, and give him something to work from though, I have a gut feeling he'll do okay, and that he may well prove the early naysayers wrong. But who knows? Like Bolo said, it could go horribly wrong and we get another Kull the Conqueror, if the script is crappy, and they just try to make an Arnie-less Arnie style Conan remake. Wait and see I guess, first trailer should give us all a better idea, at least in terms of style, production value, and how Momoa looks in the role, but until then oddly enough I'm feeling cautiously optomistic at this point for some reason.

I agree with Sledge hammer! I don't care who gets the role, as long as he can act, has some physicality, and at least looks something like Frazetta's Conan. I think the guy they cast could be OK, especially if they dye his hair black and give him blue contacts.

They have a mine of stories to film, so start Conan out young, and let this guy grow in the role. However the stories should have some sort of tie to each other.

how on earth did they cast a skinny hippie for conan? this guy really needs to hit the carbs and the gym,theres no way he could lift a sword like conans.but arnie was the best so you can only go down hill once you get to the top.At least the giant snakes and frost giants will look good.

Unlike previous films, the current lineup of Howard related film adaptations are all being done in close conjunction with R.E. Howard's rights holders, Paradox Entertainment. Although just how much this means, and how protective they are in regards to the quality of the filmic adaptations still remains to be seen. The first chance that we should be able to get some idea of that is when Solomon Kane comes out, which as far as I know, still doesn't have a solid release date.

A little more toning and bulking up and I think he'll be fine, physically speaking. And he hasn't worn the dreads for a long time, that was just a stargate thing, and they were fake during the last season or so, as he was sick of wearing them...

Like I said before, I don't think Mamoa will be a problem personally. Whether they actually have a decent script and the director is capable of being able to realise R.E. Howard's Hyborian world and characters, that's where this film will either live or die.

Can't say I'd agree with that personally, I thought Tahmoh Penikett was one the weakest actors out of the entire regular cast on BSG, and about as convincing as a lump of wood on Dollhouse, where he was even worse. The guy has less range than a $2 store remote control device...

But hey, who knows I guess. To each their own anyhow.

As for this Conan, I'll be very interested to see a trailer and finally get a feeling for what exactly they are actually doing with this, but I'll pretty much reserve judgement until then.

Sledge Hammer! wrote:Can't say I'd agree with that personally, I thought Tahmoh Penikett was one the weakest actors out of the entire regular cast on BSG, and about as convincing as a lump of wood on Dollhouse, where he was even worse. The guy has less range than a $2 store remote control device...